


following orders

by scorpionGrass



Series: you can’t put a price on peace (of mind) [12]
Category: Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997)
Genre: Betrayal, Gen, Gold Saucer (Compilation of FFVII), keystone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2020-05-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:20:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24404950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scorpionGrass/pseuds/scorpionGrass
Summary: Reeve doesn't want to steal the Keystone. He doesn't want to kidnap Barret's daughter. He doesn't want to do any of this.
Series: you can’t put a price on peace (of mind) [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1363234
Comments: 7
Kudos: 15





	following orders

Reeve would never hurt anyone. Not on purpose. But his instructions are clear: do whatever it takes to make sure his robot cat, Cait Sith, stays with AVALANCHE and takes him to the Temple of the Ancients.

Elena’s gaze betrays nothing as she delivers these instructions to Reeve in his office. Her lips twist as if debating her next words, so different from Tseng whose poker face was an emotionless mask no one could figure out.

"Tseng also wanted me to relay a backup plan to you. In case things go south,” she says.

‘What is it?”

“You must know of Barret's daughter,” Elena says slowly. “She's… currently living with Aerith’s adoptive mother, Elmyra Gainsborough, in the Sector 5 slums. Tseng suggested this be your course of action, provided you cannot think of anything better."

Her words are professional, but her tone is uncomfortable. Reeve almost feels bad for her, a young girl thrust into the life of a Turk, except he’s too appalled at the insinuation to really explore that thought.

His brow furrows, lips parting to tell her exactly what he thinks of that, when his phone rings. A cursory glance and he can see it's his secretary, no doubt concerned that a meeting with one of the Turks is taking so long.

"I have to take this," he says instead, fight draining out of him with how exhausted he is with all of this, and Elena nods stiffly before leaving, door clicking shut behind her.

Reeve exhales and picks up the phone.

"Are you alright, sir?"

"No, I don't think I am," he answers wryly.

~

Cait Sith is small and cute and fits in too well with the bright lights and gaudy deco of Gold Saucer. It’s not hard to get his furry paws on the Keystone. It’s laughably easy, except that none of this is laughable at all.

The Turks have already made sure the group will be stuck at Gold Saucer, shutting down the rail car and stranding them all at the park so Cait Sith could make his move. Everyone in AVALANCHE is trying to make the best of being stuck at a literal amusement park, and Reeve knows how much Tifa and Yuffie love beating stuff up in the Battle Square. Barret and Red are at the all-you-can-eat buffet loading up on foods they’ve all sorely missed while camping across the world. Cid is sleeping, getting some much-needed shut-eye before they inevitably head off to the Temple tomorrow morning.

Cloud and Aerith… are on a date.

(Or at least, that’s what Cait Sith heard her call it as she pushed Cloud out of his creepy hotel room and toward everything Gold Saucer has to offer.)

He makes sure no one’s around (no cleaning ladies, no nothing), checks for security cameras (luckily, there are none), and roots around the room for Cloud’s pack (which is the only vaguely hard part, because they’ve all accumulated so much materia, so many potions, that he has to sift through a lot more than he was prepared to).

It takes about an hour, of stopping and starting, and Reeve staring through Cait Sith’s eyes at supplies and sentimental trinkets that remind him how important they’ve all become to him, to find the Keystone. It’s a bright orb, similarly sized to a materia, but made of a crystal that reminds Reeve of opalescent glass. Funny, how something so small could irrevocably break the trust everyone has in him. If he’s caught.

They’re smart, though, and Reeve sometimes wonders if Aerith has already figured it out. He’s caught her curious glances on too many occasions. And, didn’t she talk to the planet?

“You sure?” Cait Sith says into the empty, ransacked room.

Reeve stares at it all and sighs. “Never,” he says.

Somehow, he thinks Cait understands.

**Author's Note:**

> I love Reeve and I really hope his conflicted feelings about being a spy are explored lots in the Remake!!
> 
> Thanks for reading <3


End file.
